US firm Medrad has installed an automated assembly line that has increased production capacity of its sterile disposables operation by over 60 per cent.
Housed within its main facility near Pittsburgh, the new production line is Medrad's fourth automated installation and part of a phased initiative designed to meet global demand for its disposable syringes until 2006.
The automation converts syringe assembly and packaging into a process that doubles the number of units produced per person and maximises consistency of the end product, according to Medrad.
The newly installed equipment first places a rubber cover over the plunger, sprays the barrel with silicone, inserts the plunger into the barrel and then adds a dust cap to the tip of the syringe. The syringe is then manually inspected, placed in a newly formed package with automatically wound disposable tubing, sealed, inspected again and moves to the sterilisation process. The line produces a syringe every 1.13 seconds, said the firm.